The National Geographic Museum will open a new exhibition this Wednesday, April 28 called Design for the Other 90%, a touring exhibition from the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in NYC. The exhibition takes a look at designers who are developing solutions that address basic needs for the vast majority of the world’s population not traditionally served by professional designers. Of the world’s 6.5 billion people, 90% have few to none of the basic necessities required for progress and survival.
Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre have developed a material they call Ecocradle. It feels, looks, and pretty much functions exactly like styrofoam. What is so interesting about this material is that it is comprised of only organic matter with mushroom roots acting as the glue to bring it all together. For more on the duo’s research and development head over to L Magazine.
The nation’s largest rooftop solar installation was unveiled last week in Woodbridge, New Jersey. The building (seen above) is a FedEx shipping plant and is quite impressive to say the least. Jersey leads the east coast in solar energy production and is 2nd to only California in the nation.
Fresh off the opening of his new documentary ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’ UK graffiti artist Banksy made his way to San Francisco’s Mission District and Chinatown. Erin Archuleta spotted the new work on Valencia between 19th & 20th (above). And caughtyouhoney documented this piece in San Francisco’s Chinatown district (below).
‘Green Porno’ star Isabella Rossellini has a new show about animal attraction. The spin-off show is called ‘Seduce Me’, an educational series of 5 mini-episodes exploring the unconventional seduction rituals of ducks, snakes, bed bugs, etc.
Artist, Eric Daugh uses multi-colored Push Pins as his medium to execute these visually stunning portraits (seen above) in the pointillist tradition. No word on how many thumbtacks were needed.
SHoP Architects was awarded the winning design in an invited competition to design the Institute’s new street front look. The new addition will add a multi-layered metal and translucent glass facade, as well as primary circulation, review and new exhibition spaces, which will connect to the studio spaces and the skylit student quad on the 5th floor.
For a complete analysis of the design head over to Inhabitat.
B-Cycle, a new sharing system of bikes is a collaborative effort between health care company Humana, bike manufacturer Trek and ad house Crispin Porter + Bogusky. The new sharing system is set to launch in Boulder, CO and is expected to expand to other cities. You can vote for your city to be next by going to B-Cycle’s website (seen below).
Photography and cell manipulation: Frank Conrad. Lab assistant: Bastion Ridley.
Creative Review seems to always come up with something new for their conceptually driven covers. Previous issues have taken them as far as Mumbai, while their February issue enabled subscribers to ‘grow their own tomatoes’. This month Creative Review literally grew the cover in a lab (as seen above). For more on how the cover was executed go here.
The folks over at Under Consideration have expanded Brand New—their informative branding blog into the classroom. The focus of Brand New Classroom “will be as much on the final result as the process to get there. All of our readers are encouraged to provide constructive feedback, whether you are a student yourself or a seasoned professional.” Find out more here.
